“David, we can’t take your money for this,” Joshua added quickly.
David held up his hands, chuckling. “Would you two relax? I get it. You can pay me back once your insurance company cuts you a check; that’s fine. But if Graham can get all his primary funding up front, this whole thing moves a hell of a lot faster.”
Kingsley nodded toward David. “He’s right. Biggest holdup in jobs like this is waiting on money for materials. The more I can bulk buy right now, the quicker I get you back sleeping in your own home.”
David gave Colin’s shoulder a friendly shake. “Relax. We’ll figure it out. My only goal right now is to get Graham started ASAP.”
Colin cast a skeptical glance at Joshua, but he wasn’t looking at him. He was staring toward their house… their home. And the look of wistful longing on his face nearly took Colin’s knees out from under him.
He nodded and turned back to David. “I agree. But I want this in writing. Formal.Legal. Withinterest.”
David’s eyes had followed Colin’s, and noting Joshua’s expression, he smiled and reached to grip Colin’s arm. “Deal. I’ll have my lawyer work up something, and you can look it over.” He turned to Kingsley. “Graham? Just shoot me a figure. Whatever you need to get started. I’ll have it to you by end of business.”
Kingsley nodded, then laid a hand on Colin’s shoulder and gestured toward the house. “Can I get you boys to walk over here? I have a couple of questions.”
They followed David and Kingsley to the corner of the house—to the charred remains of their dining room’s octagon window. Joshua looked away, wincing, and Colin wrapped an arm around him.
Noticing his pain, Kingsley smiled and patted his back. “Don’t fret, son. An octagon window is as easy as pie. We’ll slip ‘er in there in forty-five minutes when the time comes. But what I really want to ask you boys is…” He pointed along the side of the house. “There’s a good six feet between here and your garage. How would you feel about expanding this house? Making this whole area wider”—he shot a glance at Joshua—“including your dining room and that fancy window that you love so much.”
“You coulddothat?”
“Oh, heavens, yes.” Again, he indicated the yard along the side of the house. “This is just wasted space, and most of this side of the house has to go anyway. Might as well replace it with something grand.”
“That would bewonderful,” Joshua breathed out, then turned to Colin. “Don’t you think?”
Colin let out a slow breath, eyes on the charred window frame. “That’s gotta come with a steep price tag.” He hissed out a frustrated breath. “I don’t like saying this, because it’s a fantastic idea and I want to do it. But we need to see some figures first.”
“No worries,” Kingsley told him. “We’ve alongway to go before that kind of thing even needs discussion. Our first job is to shore up the damage and make this house secure.”
“How long willthattake?” Joshua asked.
“Well, as soon as Mr. Gardener-Reese here gets me the cash I need, and these fine gentlemen move on, my crew and I will get started. After that…,” he shrugged, “…couple of days to secure it.” He turned toward the house as if evaluating the task before him. “Then we can assess the damage and give you boys something of a time frame.” He patted Joshua’s shoulder, then strode to the porch and walked in, sliding a N95 mask over his face.
“David, he’s amazing,” Joshua said. “Thank you!”
“He’s a special guy, all right,” David told them. “And you two should let him expand the house. Don’t worry about money right now. We can work all that out.”
“David, I won’t take advantage of you that way,” Colin insisted.
“You’re not!” He nudged Colin with an elbow. “Stop it, Colin. You know I’ve got the fucking money. What better place to put it?”
Colin scowled, then glanced at Joshua. “You want it, though, don’t you? The expansion? I saw your eyes light up when Kingsley mentioned it.”
Joshua touched his arm. “Baby, yes. I do. I think it would be glorious. It would mean that our living room, dining room,andkitchen would all be bigger, and so would your workout room!” He turned to David. “Would he expand the upstairs too?” Joshua asked, tone eager, already imagining a home reborn instead of repaired.
David shrugged and tilted his head in the direction Kingsley had walked. “Ask him!”
“I will.”
Colin nodded as if in agreement, though a faint, sour twist tightened in his gut. The idea of a larger house—more light, more space—should have filled him with excitement. Instead, a quiet wrongness coiled low in his chest, like he was stealing something from the life they had lost. He kept his gaze forward, jaw locked, unwilling to burden anyone else with a feeling that made little sense. At least not yet.
“I’m going to go in. I want to talk to him about the timing of all this,” David said. He squeezed Colin’s shoulder and trailed the contractor into the house.
As David walked away, a car door slammed, and Colin turned toward the street, expecting to see yet another police cruiser. Instead, he saw Esther Jackson and Norman Clayton. Esther didn’t pause as she passed Colin and Joshua, heading straight for the blast zone. She continued to walk until she reached the last remaining rectangle of yellow tape: the spot where Sarah Mitchell had laid down her life defending her charges. For a longmoment, Esther stood in silence, then bent and laid a single white rose on the ground.
Overcome, Colin bowed his head, shaking tears out of his eyes. For a split second, he was back there—hearing her scream, tasting smoke, seeing her outstretched arm on the grass. His knees wobbled. Just slightly. But enough that he shifted his weight without thinking. He shook his head hard, but the image was still there.
Norman Clayton embraced him, reaching out as he did so to squeeze Joshua’s arm. “You OK, kid?”
